Ferry Victim’s Mother Under Scrutiny Over Compensation Lawsuit

Families participate in a fire-safety course for children in Seoul this month. South Korean parents, well-known for marching their children off to cram schools, have been enrolling their youngsters in safety classes since hundreds of people were killed in a ferry sinking in April.

Reuters

The mother of a South Korean high school student who died in a ferry disaster in April filed a lawsuit seeking compensation this week–and was quickly accused of seeking to profit from her son’s death.

A spokesman for the Seoul Central District Court said Friday that the woman is asking for nearly $30,000 from the government and the ferry operator, as initial compensation for emotional distress and her son’s lost future income.

The government has already distributed nearly $1.7 million among the families of the victims of the Sewol ferry sinking, which left more than 300 people–most of them students–dead or missing. The total amount is likely to rise.

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However, the woman, whose identity is shielded by privacy laws, apparently didn’t receive any of that compensation.

She became the first person to file a lawsuit over the April disaster. In the suit, she further stated a claim to half of all government compensation for her son’s death, which she said could rise to nearly $900,000, the court spokesman said.

Still, the mother’s motives have come under scrutiny. Local news reports said Friday that she had severed ties with her late son and her husband long before the disaster. Yonhap News Agency reported that the husband said he hadn’t been informed of the lawsuit.

An official at the Korean Bar Association, which has counseled and represented the victims’ families, told Korea Real Time that the organization didn’t file the lawsuit on behalf of the woman, adding that she isn’t included in the official list of victims’ families and had never contacted the association.